


if you only hold me tight

by pietrhoe



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bi Steve Harrington, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Fix-it fic, Fluff, Gen, Lesbian Robin, MLM WLW solidarity, Short & Sweet, canon until it’s not, dont forget that, of sorts, robin is a lesbian, s03xe07, slight use of q-slur, steve refers to himself internally but it’s still there, the bite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 20:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19776223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pietrhoe/pseuds/pietrhoe
Summary: there was a missing confession from the bathroom scene. just needed to see bisexual steve harrington also share that part of himself. bi lesbian solidarity!title taken from “total eclipse of the heart”





	if you only hold me tight

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in a span of a few hours and it’s the first fic i've published since 2016 so bear with me. i also only proofread this once so forgive my mistakes. 
> 
> also: slight use of q-slur, warning in tags
> 
> enjoy this piece of fluff <3

Robin’s head lays on the bathroom floor, her hair fanning out around her. She tries not to think about all the shit that’s been on that floor, and focuses above her. “The ceiling’s not spinning for me anymore. Is it still spinning for you?” 

Steve tips his head back, his neck disagreeing with the sudden movement. “Holy shit. No. Do you think we puked it all up?”

“Maybe. Ask me something.” And then, in a poor imitation of their previous Russian captors, “Interrogate me.”

Steve scoffs and adjusts into a more comfortable position. “Interrogate you. Sure. Uhhhh… when was the last time you, uh, peed your pants?”

“Today,” She answers, without missing a beat. 

“What?” he asks, disbelievingly. 

“Yeah, when the Russian doctor took out the bone saw,” Robin explains, imaking perfect sense to her in that situation.

He laughs incredulously, “Oh, my God.”

She sits up a little, holding her pointer finger and thumb close together, “It was just a _little_ bit, though.” Her goofy smile undermines the defense of her statement. 

“Yeah,” Steve starts, before Robin’s even done with her sentence, “Definitely still in our system.”

Robin gives into giggles and sits the rest of the way up, putting her back against the wall.

Taking a deep breath, “All right. My turn.” 

“Okay, hit me,” comes Steve’s muffled response from where his head is in his hand.

She tucks her knees up against her chest, a physical attempt to shield herself from the vulnerability of her next question. “Have you... ever been in love?”

She knows the question might catch him off-guard. It has none of the playfulness of Steve’s question. But she knows he won’t answer it if he doesn’t want to.

To her surprise, he does.

“Yeah. Nancy Wheeler. First semester, senior year.” He chuckles bitterly and imitates a gunshot to the heart. 

She rolls her eyes, scoffing, “Oh my God. She’s such a priss.”

Steve hums in not-quite-agreement. “Turns out, not really.”

In a slightly softer but still disbelieving voice, she asks, “Are you still in love with Nancy?”

“No,” he answers, and it’s clear he’s telling the truth.

“Why not?” She asks, before she can think better of it. 

Again, the question is intrusive, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“I guess it’s because I found someone who’s a little better for me.”

He pauses, letting his words sink in, and giving him a chance to figure out exactly what to say. Robin feels her heart starting to beat a little bit faster, panic setting in.

He chuckles, mostly to himself, before continuing. “It’s crazy. Ever since Dustin got home he’s been saying, ‘You know, you gotta find your Suzie. You gotta find your Suzie.’”

She rolls her head to the side, getting distracted by the new name. “Wait, who’s Suzie?”

He groans, sorry he even brought her up, “Some girl from camp apparently, I guess his girlfriend? To be honest with you, I’m not sure she’s even real.

“But, that’s not—that’s not the point, though. That doesn’t matter. The point is... this girl, you know, the one that I like? It’s somebody I didn’t even talk to in school, and I don’t even know why.”

Robin hadn’t wanted to jump to conclusions, but after their earlier talk on the floor as captives, it was certainly her he was talking about. She sucks in a silent breath, pulling herself up a little straighter, trying to calm her heart rate and not panic. After everything that had happened today, she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to tackle this too. 

He’s still rambling on when she emerges from her thoughts and she catches the last part of his sentence.

“—should’ve been hanging out with this girl the whole time.”

She listens, staying quiet and biting the inside of her lip. 

“First of all, she’s hilarious. She’s so funny,” Steve continues, speeding up with the excitement of talking about her. “I feel like, this summer, I’ve laughed harder than I’ve laughed in a really long time.”

Robin looks down with a sad smile, the familiar heat beginning to prick at the back of her eyes.

“And she’s smart. Way smarter than me. You know, she can crack, like, top secret Russian codes and... you know? She’s honestly unlike anyone I’ve ever met before.”

Robin has to lean forward onto her knees to not collapse from the weight of Steve’s words. Steve’s voice is so full of adoration that Robin knows she’s unworthy of.

After a few seconds of silence, he taps on the stall, “Robin?” he asks, anxiety lacing his voice. “Rob, did you just OD in there?”

She looks up and sighs silently, “No. I... am still alive.”

She doesn’t get a response but then Steve is sliding towards her, underneath the cubicle wall, into her stall.

He sits across from her, knees knocking into hers, and she just looks at him and says, “The floor’s disgusting,” her earlier thoughts of germs coming back to her.

“Yeah, well, I already got a bunch of blood and puke on my shirt, so.” He shrugs, looking at said shirt, and then looks up at her expectantly. “What do you think?”

“About?” She asks, knowing full well what he’s talking about, but still trying to buy herself a few seconds of time before having to give her real response. 

“This girl,” he replies, shaking his head almost imperceptibly as he does so.

“She sounds awesome,” she replies quickly, cursing the way her voice changes in pitch from her nerves. Her breathing is becoming faster also, like her lungs are holding less air. 

He nods. “She is awesome. And... what about the guy?”

A painful smile crosses her face. “He’s on drugs. And he’s not thinking straight.” 

Looking down, he says, “Really? ‘Cause I think he’s thinking a lot more clearly than usual.”

“He’s not.” She says firmly. Willing her voice to stay strong, she starts, “Look...” Her voice grows softer. “He doesn’t know this girl. And if he did know her, like—like really know her, I don’t think he’d even want to be her friend.” She has to look away from Steve, the shame coursing through her too much to handle.

He shakes his head, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees to be more convincing. “No, that’s not true. No way is that true.”

“Listen to me, Steve. It’s shocked me to my core, but I like you.” She can’t help the small smile that appears on her face, thinking about how much her opinion of him has changed. “I really like you.” She sees him nod slightly and keeps going. “But I’m not like your other friends. And I’m not like Nancy Wheeler.” She’s surprised her voice doesn’t crack on the last few sentences, her throat feeling so tight. 

Steve huffs, thinking that’s the end of it. “Robin, that’s exactly why I like you.”

She scoffs. “Do you...” She pauses, knowing that after this, there’s no going back. “Do you remember what I said about Click’s class? About me being jealous and, like... obsessed?”

He nods again, though confused about where she’s going. “Yeah.” 

Having to close her eyes for a few seconds, she says, “It isn’t because I had a crush on you.” Her throat slightly catches, but she ignores it. She needs to tell him. “It’s because... she wouldn’t stop staring at you.” Her lips purse together, and she can feel tears burning behind her eyes.

Obviously confused, Steve stares at her for a few seconds before asking, “Mrs. Click?”

She chuckles slightly, and looks down. “Tammy Thompson,” she says, and the strength in her voice surprises her. Her chest is so tight, feeling like there’s a hand wrapped around her heart, just waiting to squeeze tighter when Steve’s inevitable angry or disgusted response comes. “I wanted her to look at me. But... she couldn’t pull her eyes away from you, and your stupid hair.” Receiving a small boost of confidence from the full attention Steve is giving her, she barrels on. “And I didn’t understand, because you would get bagel crumbs... all over the floor. And you asked dumb questions. And you were a douchebag.” He casts his eyes down, but she doesn’t stop. “And—and you didn’t even like her and... I would go home... and just scream into my pillow.”

“But... Tammy Thompson’s a girl,” he says, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Her eyebrows shift upwards slightly and her eyes soften. “Steve,” she says, and it comes out like a whisper.

“Yeah?” he says, and she can only look at him, having no more words. Realisation dawns on his face, “Oh.”

She nods in confirmation, tired from the anxiety consuming her body, “Oh.”

He leans backwards, resting against the stall. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, looking up yet again. “Holy shit.”

Steve is silent for a few moments, clearly working through Robin’s confession. Although she knows he needs time to absorb it, every second that he’s silent, is a second her mind is running through all the terrible reactions he could have.

Not being able to handle the silence any longer, Robin asks, “Steve? Did you OD over there?,” trying to lighten the mood by mirroring his earlier question. 

He looks back over to her and gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile, although it probably looks like more of a grimace with how swollen his left eye is. “No. I was just thinking… I guess we have another thing in common.”

She laughs airily, thinking he means both of them liking girls, but then is confused by what he says next.

“Now, don’t get me wrong, I like girls…,” he looks slightly down at this, trying to relax the feeling in his chest. “But I like boys in the same way.” He can’t bring himself to look at her. The romantic rejection will be nothing compared to a negative response to this confession. So she might be gay, yeah, but him? No one wants to be friends with a half-queer. He can’t even be a queer correctly.

“Steve,” Robin says softly, interrupting his self-deprecating thoughts. “Steve,” she repeats when she doesn’t get a response, “Please look at me.” 

Summoning the rest of his courage, he looks up at her, guilt in his heart now for making her important moment about him, even though he realizes that’s not the correct way to see his confession.

Robin gently reaches across and takes his hands. “I don’t care who you like or who you date,” she says smiling, “As long as they’re nothing like you.” 

Gasping indignantly, he drops her hands in favor to shove her slightly, “Hey!”

They both collapse into giggles, her words having the intended effect of breaking the tension.

“Besides,” Steve says once he gets his breath back, “you’re the one who likes Tammy Thompson.”

Robin’s mouth drops open dramatically. “What’s wrong with Tammy?!”

“What’s wrong?” he repeats, “What’s wrong is she wants to be a singer and she sounds like a muppet giving birth!” And starts in on a terrible rendition of a muppet singing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart.’ She joins in for a line or two before they both collapse into another fit of giggles, the exhaustion and after-effects of the drugs making them slightly delirious.

Robin calms down first, looking at Steve with a small, warm smile. She grabs one of his hands and squeezes. “I’m glad I told you.”

Steve squeezes back with a slightly watery smile, “Me too, Rob. Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed this, kudos would make my day!
> 
> also feel free to follow me on twitter @pietrhoe and tumblr @pietrhoemaximoff :^)


End file.
